Jane

At an elementary school in a tiny southeast Michigan town, a teacher named Jane went home one day with what she thought was the flu. Just one of the hazards of being a second grade teacher, she thought.

But after coughing up blood and not being able to breathe, it became apparent that these weren’t flu symptoms. She got herself to a nearby hospital, and from there was rushed by ambulance to the U-M.

Fighting for every breath, and based on her rapidly deteriorating state, Jane was placed into a drug-induced coma. As it turned out, Jane would soon be near death due to double pneumonia, a total body septic strep infection, ARDS, a blood clot in one of her lungs, and major organ shutdown.

“I shouldn’t have lived, but I did,” Jane would later say. Miraculously, she began to improve little by little, eventually to the point where doctors could stabilize her situation enough to bring her out of her coma.

It was the beginning of a four-month stay, and a long road back.

“I was told by my family and friends that during those first couple of weeks I had nothing but the most professional and compassionate care as they tried to keep me alive,” said Jane. “And it was something I saw for myself during my long recovery period.”

When she was brought out of her coma, Jane was completely paralyzed and hooked up to a ventilator. Over the next several weeks, doctors removed one of her lungs and the tips of her necrotic toes and began what seemed like endless treatments to get her to the stage where she could begin the rehab process. “I think I saw every person in the entire hospital, including the maintenance people,” she said.

“There were so many, many people that got me through this,” said Jane.

“There was Patty, one of my nurses, who, even though she had a million things to do, found two minutes to braid the hair I still had left.

Dr. Upchurch. He made me laugh when I should have been crying. I remember what he told me when he said they would have to take the tips of my toes off -- he said my shoe modeling days were probably over. I love that.

This one nurse, I’ve forgotten her name, she had such patience with me. She could figure out exactly what I was trying to mouth through my ventilator.

There was Kelly, my first occupational therapist, who started me moving again. And shared with me the one and only “pity party” I allowed myself.

My doctors, they would all just tell me exactly what was going on, explaining things to me and my family in ways we could understand.

Even the maintenance guy — on his day off — brought his wife in to meet me. These people were all just incredible.”

Eventually, Jane was well enough to go home, and within a year of her discharge, was back to teaching again. Whenever she’s at the hospital, Jane always stops by to say hello to those who were there for her.

“To everyone at the U-M,” said Jane, “Who got me back to being the teacher my class remembers…thank you.”